Meteors
by Frost1989
Summary: A scholarship offered to Ginny meant that a opportunity to go to the best wizarding school in England was up for her to grab. She took it but it also meant that she had to accept a school full to the brim with snobs. The snobbiest being dear Draco Malfoy.
1. Rustelle and The Four

**Author's Note:** There is something _extremely _important about this story that anyone who reads it needs to know. Because I don't know whether I can explain it in what deems as a "short" author's note, I will do it in my profile page thingy. So yeah…check that out before reading this.

**Disclaimer: **Nothing in this story belongs to me; except for the actual piecing together of the words of course…

**Chapter 1-Rustelle and The Four **

"Not again," Ginny groaned as she stared intently at the motorbike, as if that would will it to repair itself and start again. Wearily, she started inspecting the bike. On average, this happened at least; let's see, five times a week? Basically, that was every damn day she rode the bike over to the college. And the list of stats also displayed that out of these five times she was obliged to conduct the same inspection; five out of five would be futile. The check was basically cursory in other words. Oh she knew what ailed the bike. It was nothing more than a case of old age. Everything couldn't run for too long or the bike would shut down on itself. Sighing dramatically, she started to push the bike along with her. 'At least it's rather peaceful,' she thought, trying to keep optimistic. She spoke too soon. Out of the blue, a car swerved to overtake her at high speed, causing her to shriek in alarm. Her mouth opened to hurl a well deserved insult, but it snapped shut once she saw the number plate of the Lexus. Because, she gritted her teeth in frustration, it spelt Malfoy. It also spelt out clearly that she had better keep her mouth shut if she had any hope of getting through this college. If she was in any other place in her life, at any other circumstance, she would have kicked Malfoy's ass for doing that. But at the moment, since she was studying at Rustelle, she had to keep as invisible as possible.

Her life at the moment was problematic and complicated. Ginny wasn't willing to settle for anything less than the best education she could get and when the chance of a scholarship to the best wizarding college in England was offered to her, she couldn't say no. After a week however, she was seriously doubting her decision. The professors were the best to be found in their field; make no mistake about that. They were literally enticed there by the ultra-wealthy parents of the student body with large amounts of research funds and whatnot. Which professor could resist pursuing their own breakthrough? Therefore, she really couldn't complain about the staff but the students, the _students, _were an entirely different matter. She could go on for _days_ just ranting about how spoilt, obnoxious and insufferable the students at this college were. People like her were of course, brought in for statistical purposes. 'Oh look! We do have students from varied backgrounds you know. We're not _snobbish!_ What a silly accusation!' she thought sarcastically.

She pushed her bike through the back door of the school. Not snobbish. Yeah yeah yeah, ya-da ya-da ya-da. She locked her bike and started walking towards the school building. 'At least out of all this snobbery, I get some amusement,' she grinned as she watched the competition play out between Pansy and Millicent. Yeah they attended Rustelle as well. To her utter dismay, the majority of wealthy wizarding parents had children in Slytherin. But back to the entertainment.

She watched as Millicent blatantly made eye contact with Pansy, while swinging her bag markedly over her shoulder. 'Oh _Prada_ is it Bulstrode?' Ginny thought mockingly. 'Let's see what Parkinson has to offer.' She turned to Pansy in time to see her flourish the inside of her coat in an exaggerated fashion. 'Ooooo…_Burberry. _Now back to Bulstrode.' her head turned to Millicent. She was leaning over in the direction of Pansy, tracing the path of her necklace. 'Mikimoto Pearls huh? You just might have won this time Bulstrode,' Ginny sardonically contemplated. It seemed that Millicent also thought so for a superior smirk had begun to take shape over her features.

"What's wrong Pansy?" she asked the crestfallen girl contemptuously. "Have you got nothing better?"

But it seemed that the girl had only been putting on act for she now shook her head and beckoned Millicent over with a crook of her finger. Suspiciously, she advanced towards Pansy. "Closer still Millicent," Pansy said with a sickeningly sweet smile. Confusedly, she did as she was told. Suddenly, realisation dawned on her.

"Julia Robert's nose!" she hissed in what could only be described as wonder at Pansy. In reply, she got a self-satisfied nod. The tension between the girls seemed to melt away as Millicent punched Pansy in the shoulder. "No wonder you missed the first week of school! Why didn't you call me along you selfish girl?" she asked Pansy good naturedly.

"You just answered your own question Millicent," was Pansy's complacent answer.

Their voices faded in the background as the voice in Ginny's head called out 'drop curtain and end show.' Oh yes…this was a school where money, branded goods and cosmetic surgery took precedence of all else in the heads of the girls. Oops, my bad, she forgot the most important aim of all- find a guy with as high a social standing as possible and marry him. 'The crème de la crème being none other than Draco Malfoy,' she thought derisively. That alone made her think that the girls here had serious problems which could only be addressed with a substantial number of sessions with a psychologist.

Entering the school building, her attention was drawn to a throng of students, all of whom seemed fixated on some fascinating object. Curious, Ginny headed towards the classroom into which they all seemed to be peering. She saw a guy who seemed to be clearing out all his school supplies with his head bowed. She recognised him as Zack but she had no inkling of any other information pertaining to him. Yet, she knew exactly what had befallen him. Why he was packing up his stuff. Why he seemed to be leaving the school for seemingly no reason whatsoever. Why he looked so defeated. The workmanship of The Four. Their signature could have literally been scrawled over it, that clear it was as to whose doing it was. She was jerked out of her thoughts by the voice of a girl standing next to her.

"How pitiful," the girl sighed. The girl next to her snorted.

"Want to be virtuous and help?"

"No way! If The Four gets to know about it…"

Only one week into school, even Ginny knew to keep out of the Four's way. Who were they exactly? Well, The Four comprised of Blaise Zabini, Paul Denver, Tristan Caldwell, and……Draco Malfoy. They were an elite group of the school's, and England's, four most influential and eligible bachelors. Together, they held the entire school in thrall, fear and admiration. When they passed by, girls swooned. When they talked to anyone, they either stuttered or giggled. When they wore anything out of the ordinary, guys scurried hastily to get their own version of the product. In short, they literally ruled the school.

Next question. How did they get so influential? First things first- Wealth. They were the children of the four wealthiest families in Britain. Any girl who could capture the hearts of one of these guys would be ensured a lifetime of sumptuous luxury; and every single girl in this strange, strange school, was obsessed with that. The fact that they weren't exactly harsh on the eyes might also be a factor. The only problem of course, was to actually perform the capturing. This was a feat yet accomplished by none, quite possibly due to the nature of these boys themselves.

Blaise Zabini and Paul were incorrigible playboys who exuded that bad boy persona; charming girls in all directions. Immaculate dressing and killer smiles meant that they were never short of girls to choose from. And pick them they did. What's more, by some method -Ginny herself thought hypnotism was a highly probable suspect-, every single one of these girls fell in love with them and thought they would be their "One". Their dreams were however, shattered one after the other as the boys went through them as quickly as tissues when you're having the flu.

Then you had Tristan. Tristan was an…enigma in his own right. Quiet and mysterious, you never actually ever understood him and neither does he ever allow you to understand him. All Ginny knew was that he was studying music at Rustelle. Actually, come to think about it, he was the classic case of the reserved genius.

Lastly -let Draco Malfoy never know Ginny put him last-, there was Draco Malfoy. Personally, Ginny saw him as an aggressive bully with anger problems. Yeah. That's all she had to say about Draco Malfoy.

Not only did these boys have unmatched influence over the students, they also had influence over the professors. One word- funding. So basically, they walked over everything and everybody just like the school was theirs. And in a way, it was. But getting back to the problem in question, Ginny knew that the likely reason why Zack was dropping out was due to pressure from The Four. How? From what she had heard, it happened on a fairly frequent basis. There were three simple steps to the entire operation.

1) Red Tag issued to the target. Target was normally a person who spoke out against The Four.

2) School given free reign to terrorise target

3) Target automatically drops out under the pressure.

Sounds freaking unbelievable doesn't it? But it had happened and Ginny had borne witness to it happening before. No one dared to say anything about it for fear of being tagged themselves. Those who did were certainly dealt out their punishments fast enough. Ginny herself felt outrage at such a practice of course but she kept quiet. Cowardice? Maybe. But she couldn't afford to get kicked out of Rustelle. She had wanted this for too long to mess up now.

Finally finishing his packing up, Zack made his way out of the class. The crowd separated to let him through. He then stumbled, over what seemed to be a stuck out foot, causing his books to tumble down to the floor. Slowly, he bent down and started to collect them. Feeling indignant on his behalf, Ginny almost lost her cool and started to make her way over to help. Thankfully, somehow Ginny's only friend at the college, Heather, had found her way beside her and now deterred her with a firm shake of her head.

"If you go over and help him, Merlin knows what The Four will do to you," she warned.

And so, Ginny chalked up one more count of weakness in the face of The Four. Her self loathing was fortunately temporarily delayed as the voice of the professor for this class, Professor Maxwell, carried over.

"What's going on?" he demanded. "Why are you all standing around?"

Wearing the smile of someone trying to get into the good books of their Professor, Pansy Parkinson walked up to him and said, "Zack's leaving the school…"

"I'm the head professor of this faculty! Do I recall giving him permission to drop out? No!" the professor said, sounding put out. "Zack!" he called to the boy.

At this point, Millicent Bulstrode hurried over to give him a clearer perspective on the issue, "It was The Four's wish that he wouldn't attend Rustelle anymore."

"To think that there are such troublemakers in the school!" the professor huffed. Ginny's face brightened. There might be still hope after all... She watched as the professor made his way over to where Zack was standing.

Giving Zack a pat on his back, he said with an utterly serious tone, "Zack, don't be a troublemaker anymore. Make sure you learn from this mistake and be a better person from it." Ginny stared at him in utter disbelief. Whaattt? There was something extremely _wrong_ with the people here. Was it the food? Or maybe the water? Turning away from Zack, Professor Maxwell called out to the crowd of people, "Right, move along now. Time for class." Still stunned, Ginny stood stock still for a moment. Heather had to drag her into the classroom in order to get her in. In a daze, Ginny made her way over to an empty desk.

"Right," she heard the professor start speaking. "The topic for discussion today is morality and justice…" It was all too much for Ginny to stomach. What the hell? The professor was going to talk about morality and justice after what he had done outside? No way was she going to listen to his superficial bullshit. She put her hand up.

"Yes, Miss Weasely?" the Professor enquired.

"I would like to be excused," Ginny offered no reason with her request. The Professor himself seemed to care less about her and impatiently dismissed her with a wave of his hand. Collecting her things, Ginny left the classroom and headed over to the terrace of the school. She needed to let out some steam.

Once she got there, she took a deep breath and started yelling towards the sky. "What kind of crap school is this anyway? Zack was forced to leave and was called a troublemaker? And then the professor has the arrogance to talk about _morality and justice?_ All of it is crap! Rustelle is chockfull with superficial idiots with no hearts! Especially those Four. That pig headed four! You guys had better not mess with me. I will not give in to you!" She paused, panting for breath. As she calmed down, she said in a small voice. "If I really wouldn't give in………why didn't I dare to help Zack just now?" She sighed. "Better return to class now…"

**

* * *

****Author's Note:**Thank you, thank you, thank you, person who has managed to read the above to the end! "P I'm sorry if it was an ordeal. I know that at some places it doesn't flow as it should because of the sentence structure and stuff so I'm sorry for that. I'm also sorry if it sounds really contrived. If there are repeated words I'm sorry. If there's too much dialogue and not enough description, I'm sorry. I'm sorry if it sounds immature. I'm sorry if there are any grammar or spelling errors- I read it multiple times to check for this though…and yeah…any comments are welcome…goal is to get better…


	2. The Italian Tomato and Rose

**Author's Note:** I'm really thankful that people have actually bothered to read this! "P This chapter is really short so I'll post up the next one as well. The thing is I place cut-off points for chapters where I think there should be a natural break; so they will be in varied lengths sometimes. I'll probably post two chapters in such instances such as now.

BlueBerriRain- Thanks for being the first reviewer! Read on and you just might find what you were looking for…mysterious voice …"P

D. Lavisher- Awww thanks…that means a lot to me, that I'm bringing it out as it should be!…"P

midnight972- thanks for really liking it…"P and here are the next two chapters for you!

Damia - Queen of the Gypsi's- Thanks for the constructive comments-I really wanted to know whether it sounded contrived. And it really does get easier as it progresses doesn't it? "P

**Disclaimer: **Nothing in this story belongs to me; except for the actual piecing together of the words of course…

**

* * *

Chapter 2- The Italian Tomato and Rose**

Afternoon saw Ginny and Heather carting gym equipment over to the new storage area.

"Are you attending Arithmancy this afternoon?" Heather asked in a conversational tone.

"I've decided to drop Arithmancy," Ginny answered. "I have to work in the afternoons. True, I have a scholarship but they actually pay for nothing more than my school fees. Not that that isn't a substantial amount of money on it own. But I want some money of my own you know?"

"Yeah, I get you. But now I have to navigate the murky terrains of Arithmancy on my own," Heather mock sighed. "Ahhh, the dangers…"

Ginny smacked her on the arm good naturedly. "Stop being so melodramatic".

"Uh-oh," she heard Heather exclaim.

"What?" Ginny asked in alarm.

Heather nodded to the front. "That."

The two girls winced simultaneously as they saw a Professor crash headlong into Draco Malfoy. Unfortunately for the Professor, or Malfoy, depending on how you looked at it, the contents of the coke can the professor had been carrying was spewed over Malfoy. Looking at Malfoy's motionless form, she was reminded of the picture of a waiting snake getting ready to strike.

"Wha…"the professor started to exclaim before he saw what had transpired. Trembling, he got off the ground. "I I III'm really sorrryyy Mr Malfoy. I wasn't paying attention," he stuttered.

"The person you ran into was me. If it was any other student, would you apologise? Professor," His form of address sounding more like a mockery.

After a second of indecision, the professor stammered, "Yes, yes I would…." At the same time, he reached for his handkerchief and began hastily trying to clean the mess off him. "I'll get the mess off you Mr Malfoy."

In a cool tone, Malfoy informed the Professor, "You're stepping on my foot. Professor."

"I'll help you clean it! I'm really sorry Mr Malfoy. Really sorry. I mean, you really don't know the extent of my sorriness. Seriously…"he trailed off as Malfoy broke into his little speech.

"If apologising has any use whatsoever, what's the point of having a police force?" he asked the professor.

Getting the point, the professor slowly got up from his position on the ground. "I know I'm a troublemaker in the school. From tomorrow onwards, you won't see me here anymore," he said dolefully.

"As you wish," Malfoy said as he and his clique started walking off again. The basket of tennis balls lay forgotten in his path. Ginny almost reached out to remove it before thinking, 'Better to stay invisible.' She watched in dismay as Malfoy didn't sidestep the basket as any other person would have done. Instead, he kicked it viciously aside, causing the balls to roll all over the place.

"Mr Malfoy's mood isn't too good today. How could he mess up the school's beautiful hallways?" Blaise mockingly joked as he passed by. The guy walking at the back of the four, Tristan, stopped for a second, helping to right the basket and pick up some of the balls. He made no notice of the girls standing in the corner but Ginny somehow just _knew_ that he was of the knowledge that they were there. However, when Paul's voice called back to him, "Hey Tristan! Whatcha doing? Let's _go!_ ", he righted himself and left without so much of a backward glance.

* * *

Ginny was at her workplace, the Italian Tomato in the afternoon, carrying out her shift. With her was her best friend of 5 years, Rose Atwood. Both had attended Hogwarts and on meeting each other, an affinity had been immediately struck. They complemented each other well. Rose was a bubbly and vivacious girl, rather partial to living up in her fantasy land, where white knights came to save damsels in distress. Ginny while equally lively and vibrant, was more down to earth. Together they helped to balance out each other. At the moment, Ginny was stressing to her about her college life.

"…and the worst of the lot is Draco Malfoy. I mean, that kind of _arrogance_ just astounds me! I seriously don't see anyone can have the perception that he is the greatest thing alive. I wish you could see the kind of smugness on his face. Then you would know exactly what I'm going on about," Ginny said in one breath while folding cake boxes into shape.

"I would so like to see it," Rose said dreamily.

Staring hard at her, Ginny said in a warning voice, "Oh no, Oh no no no no _no_. Exactly why are you using that tone? I can assure you that they are really _really_ not knights in shining amours. Or perfect gentlemen. And before you name Mr Rochester, NO! "

Rose pouted. "You really are no fun Ginny. Do you even have any idea how lucky you are? Most of the guys at other colleges are stuffy geeks who have their noses permanently glued into a book. You're surrounded by a crowd of handsome rich guys and you're complaining? Geez girl!" She shook her head at what she saw as great folly.

"And what's wrong with that, pray tell?" Ginny asked in a frustrated tone with one arm on her hip. "You try surviving in Rustelle Rose Atwood. You just try. Give me geeks over these snobs _anytime…_Arghhhh! Talking about it makes me mad. I'm stopping now," she fumed while putting down a completed box with more force than necessary.

"Oh don't!" Rose whined. "Let me live through you. Be the bright spark in my mundane life!" She exclaimed dramatically.

"Just why am I surrounded by a bunch of melodramatic friends?" Ginny sighed and rolled her eyes heavenwards.

"Okay fine then. Just tell me, why are they called The Four?"

"I don't know Rose," Ginny said in a sarcastic tone. "Maybe because they're four of them perhaps? Personally, I like to think of them as The Four Prats, or The Four Morons, or, my personal favourite, The Pig Headed Four."

"Are they all seriously as bad as you make them out to be?" Rose said sounding doubtful.

Ginny hesitated. "Well maybe, maybe, there's one which seems a little different from the other three. A little more considerate and humane," she said slightly wistfully.

"Sooooo….Have any interest in this Mr Different?" Rose teasingly asked.

"Of course not! I've made a vow to keep as invisible and anonymous as possible in Rustelle. Whatever business there is which doesn't concern me, I will close one eye and walk away," Ginny resolutely said as she started putting away the cakes. They were about to shut the store down.

"You've changed at lot since you started attending Rustelle Ginny," Rose said in a neutral tone while picking up on Ginny's folding. "Remember our first year at Hogwarts? I was bullied by that bunch of Slytherin creeps and you helped me get even; forcing them to apologise to me. Having 6 brothers sure teaches you some useful things!" she smiled at Ginny. "For some reason," she cocked her head at Ginny, "You're no longer the same Ginevera Weasely."

The long silence which followed allowed Ginny to contemplate on the significance of her words. In all honesty, Ginny herself had come to loathe the person she had become. The unquenchable spirit in her didn't like being suppressed at all and fought against the bounds she placed on herself. She hated the fact that she couldn't even stand up for what she believed in anymore; that she was too scared to do so. 'Even the simple act of helping Zack seems to be beyond me,' she thought disconsolately.

"Come on," Rose said comfortingly, breaking up the heavy silence. "Let's get out of this place."

* * *

That night before going to sleep, Ginny's eyes caught on the old stuffed rabbit she placed on her bedside table. It seemed to be training accusing eyes on her.

"Why are you looking at me that way? I don't like to live like this as well you know…" She sighed and turned off the light.


	3. Parasite?

**Chapter 3- Parasite?**

"Exactly why are we at this place?" Draco Malfoy asked surveying the area with an air of distaste.

"Blaise's new girlfriend works here," Paul smirked, nodding over at the pool table where Blaise was currently in the midst of a game. Beside him was a beautiful girl of about 19, with dark hair and doe like eyes.

Draco sighed exasperatedly. "Let's order something to eat then."

"Waiter," Paul called him over. "A 'Mousse Duck Foie Gra' please."

"Huh?" the waiter asked confused. "We don't have such things here."

"Okay…tell me then, what wine do you have from the nineties?" Paul asked.

"Oh, sir, we don't have red wine here," the waiter apologetically said.

"Just go," Draco said with a regal wave, getting impatient. He looked over at Tristan and turned to Paul, "Think that by staring at his phone that intently, it will will Anna to call?"

Paul just smirked in response. Tristan pocketed his phone and nodded over at a group of people entering the bar. Their stance didn't seem too friendly as they headed over to the pool table where Blaise was playing. The girl with him looked up at them in recognition.

In a frosty voice, she asked, "What are you guys doing here?"

The guy merely smirked as he watched Blaise take a shot. "Not a bad player," he commented.

Annoyed by the condescending brush off, the girl reached for Blaise, as if preparing to leave. In response, the guy roughly grabbed her arm. She yanked it back with equal force and rubbed it furiously.

Standing coolly behind her, Blaise said in a dispassionate tone, "You really should act more gentlemanly towards girls."

"Do you know whose girl this is?" asked the guy sounding pissed off.

"Yes, and I also know what an ass he is so I need not make any courtesies," Blaise answered with a smirk.

Looking extremely incensed, the guy said menacingly, "Do you know who you're speaking to?", poking his wand into Blaise's chest. Before he could do any harm however, Draco dragged the guy towards him and punched him before uttering, "_Furnunculus_!"

"Do you know who _you're_ speaking to?" he asked before dropping him to the ground and starting on to the guy behind him. Paul joined in into the fray and took out a couple of guys of his own. Tristan hung back to take it all in for a second before making his way over to the bar. He placed a large bag of galleons on the bar counter.

"To cover damages," he told the petrified waiter. He then proceeded to smash a large beer bottle of his own against the barstool before making his way out of the bar. In mere seconds, the place became a wreck with the other guys all lying moaning on the floor. Blaise walked over to where their leader had fallen and placed his foot on his chest.

"Remember, treat girls with more manners!" he cockily warned. Turning to the stunned girl standing in the corner, he gave her a kiss on the cheek and said, "I'll call you tomorrow babe."

The four of them then left together.

* * *

"Want me to transfer some of the things from your box into mine? Yours looks rather heavy," Ginny offered Heather as they walked down the stairs. She herself was carrying a box of her own; filled with an odd assortment of school supplies consisting of things ranging from books to measuring tape.

"Nah," Heather answered. "It's actually mostly files so yeah. Want to go catch a movie after this?" Heather tilted her head to look for Ginny's reply. Unfortunately, this cost her her footing on her stairs and she slipped down a few steps before she caught onto the railing and righted herself. The box had lurched right out of her arms and fell with a thud.

"Pheww! That was close!" she exclaimed while catching her breath. Ginny's silence and lack of response made her look up at her puzzlingly. Why did Ginny look so apprehensive all of a sudden? It was only a small fall…

Ginny opened her mouth and softly said, "Errr, Heather? Turn around."

"Wha..." she started in bewilderment before turning around and catching sight of a Draco Malfoy splattered with ink. She shrieked "Oh no! Oh no oh no oh no…oh no…." she repeated in a mantra-like state.

"What are you shrieking like a banshee for?" Draco asked irritably.

"Tsk tsk," Blaise chastised while looking at the shirt. "Paul Smith?"

"I'm so sorry! I'll help you get it off," Heather said, panic stricken while hurrying down the flight of stairs.

"Why do I have people apologising to me all day?" Draco enunciated in a bored tone. "If apologising has any use whatsoever, what's the point of having a police force?"

Desperate to set things right, Heather took out a packet of tissues from her handbag and tried to get the stains off. This small action surprisingly riled Draco up and he gave her a small shove, intended to deter her actions. Maybe it was due to shock from the whole matter, or poor balance, but that small shove sent her flying towards the wall. She yelped in surprise.

"Heather!" Ginny called out in alarm. She rushed down towards her friend.

"I'm all right Ginny," the girl said trying not to wince as she stood up. "Probably just a few bruises here and there."

Her fear for expressing the extent of her injury in front of Draco was the last straw for Ginny. In a controlled voice she turned to Draco and said, "Since she had already apologised, can't you just let it go?"

"Awww Look Blaise! The poor have started a friendship union!" Draco mercilessly mocked.

Rankled, Ginny lost it and yelled, "At least we know what friendship is! What's friendship to a parasite like you?"

"Parasite?" Draco asked in an incredulous voice.

"Yeah parasite!" Ginny answered, gaining strength and courage with every word. "You and your four only know how to live in your fathers' shadow; feeding off their reputations without knowing any better. What contribution have you made to society? I feel sorry for you Malfoy. You swagger around the school, getting rid of people as you wish because it gives you a sense of control and power. Taking pleasure in the suffering of others- I mean how sick is that really? Think about it!"

Draco stared at her non-plussed for a second before titling her chin up to look at her full on. "You have spunk Weasely," he smirked before walking off. The other three followed close behind.

Ginny gaped as she watched their retreating backs. Questions flooded her thoughts, causing her to shut her eyes in the confusion of it all. 'What kind of response was that? And where did the 'I will remain anonymous and invisible go'? And also, he knows I'm a Weasely?' she thought. Then she laughed weakly in her mind. 'Of course he knows I'm a Weasely- red hair, freckles…could it be more obvious?' Through this whirlwind of thoughts, one surfaced stronger then the others- 'I'm so screwed.'

A familiar voice cut through her internal turmoil, "I'll be going now," Heather said hesitantly, as if afraid to be in her presence.

Ginny blinked twice before registering what Heather had said. "Err yeah, sure…see you tomorrow," she frowned slightly at the obvious avoidance of her.

Sounding distracted, Heather answered "Right, right…" while continuing down the flight of stairs.

**

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Author's Note: Two people spilling thing's on Draco…too much of a coincidence?**


	4. A long day

**Author's Note:** I didn't think i said this at the beginning so I better do it now. There will be a triangle here. Ginny won't fall for Draco right off the bat so be warned...

Paige2310- Thanks for making the effort to review!

Ice princess grl- Yeah definitely, I agree. Let her give Draco a taste of his own medicine huh?

Damia - Queen of the Gypsi's- Yes, that wasn't very good of me was it? "P If you're referring to the "police quote", you're probably going to be seeing quite a bit of it because it's his trademark phrase. Also, Draco steps over everybody, but is that really his fault if people let themselves be trodden on? His aforementioned boredom is stemming from this fact. It's like he's bored of the way people apologise to him all the time and stuff. Ginny then has to come along…..

BlueBerriRain- Someone has to stand up to Draco! And also, maybe I wasn't clear in my writing because I wanted to ensure that readers would know that the shove wasn't intended to push over heather. It's more like a brush off kinda thing…

Alexandria J. Malfoy- Glad that I have piqued some interest!

Felton118- Thank you for your kind comment.

**Disclaimer: **Nothing in this story belongs to me; except for the actual piecing together of the words of course…

**Chapter 4- A long day**

Due to the fact that her night had been fraught with nightmares, Ginny's nervousness over what the day was to bring was all the more heightened. She walked into school with a cautious air, all the while looking for any signs that the students had set up any traps for her. 'How ironic,' Ginny thought, 'that most of these tricks actually come from Fred and George's shop.' However, she spotted nothing out of the ordinary. She didn't know which frightened her more- the lack of a response on the part of The Four, or if a response was actually made. Upon reaching her locker, Ginny closed her eyes and sent a silent plea up to the Gods, hoping against hope that there wouldn't be a red tag in it. Taking a deep breath, she screwed up her courage and yanked the door open. "No red tag!" she almost screamed for joy. Letting out the breath she had held, she took out her books and proceeded to walk to class. 'The hallways sure are empty today,' she thought to herself.

When she reached the classroom, an unnatural silence ensued. Then, an ominous muttering started up, the universal one which always pre-empted the happening of something bad. Ginny felt like she was treading on eggshells once more. 'What's wrong? I didn't get a red tag…' her inner voice said in a confused tone. But still, the ominous muttering was going on and it was related to her. Read: The Four had done something. She walked slowly up to her desk and checked all surfaces for the red tag but she didn't see anything. 'Heather! Ask Heather what's going on…' she thought with sudden clarity. 'Must be lack of sleep.' Ginny looked over at Heather to see that she was frantically miming something to her. With repeated jabs, she pointed at her back followed by Ginny. 'Why all this mystery in the _morning? _My brain isn't even functioning yet,' Ginny complained in her head. 'Okay, back. Back ache? Why would I have a back ache? Mind you my mattress is pretty lumpy. It's so unfair that I get hand me downs of everything…I mean seriously! When was the last time…' she shook herself up. 'Drifting here Ginny! Concentrate! Right right…so back…erm…Something on my back?' realisation struck her. 'There's something on my _back!_' With a frown, she reached to find a piece of paper stuck to her back. She groaned silently- red tag. Of course. How could she have been as stupid as to believe that her actions didn't warrant any response at all. 'Let the games begin,' she wearily thought and rested her head against the desk. It rose once more when the professor walked in with an authoritative air.

"Here are the test papers," he said while walking around and placing them face down on the students respective tables. "You have one hour."

Ginny flipped her paper over and sighed. 'I have to deal with The Four and this? Exactly how bad is this day going to get?' she resignedly shook her head and started working through it. She had done the first three questions when a small crumpled note landed on her desk. Perplexed, she looked at it. Shortly after the arrival of this one, others followed from desks around here.

"What are you guys doing?" she hissed as quietly as she could. As expected, she received no response. 'Should I open one?' she contemplated. 'Find out what is this about.' She opened up one to see a scribbled answer. She looked up at the professor and as the Gods would have it, the professor looked towards Ginny at that inopportune moment.

"Are you cheating Miss Weasely?" he asked in an incredulous voice.

"N…n.no," Ginny stuttered. "I can explain professor! Somebody set me up!"

"Point them out to me then!" he professor demanded. Ginny kept quiet, recognizing that the whole school now had it in for her and no one would back her up on her claims. The professor took her silence as admittance to guilt. "I thought so. You will receive a fail in this class Miss Weasely. Kindly remove your things and leave immediately," was his cold response.

Silently, Ginny did as bided. She left the class knowing that she had an extremely long day to face. She was right. From using a plank to wedge the door of her toilet cubicle to prevent her leaving to the use of her brother's own inventions, the 'Filibuster Fireworks', the pranks ranged from the harmless to the dangerous. They had ensured however, that by the end of the day, Ginny looked like a complete wreck and felt as if she had ran a marathon. In fact, she had in a sense, trying to get away from the scheming pupils. Exhausted, she leaned against her locker.

"How long do you think she'll last?" Pansy sniggered.

"I'll give her another day; two at the most," Millicent maliciously replied.

Ginny turned to give them a half hearted glare, which they merely smirked at. She saw Heather standing behind them, chewing on her lower lip, as if undecided about something. She knew what it was. Heather hadn't approached her or made any move to help her for the whole day. If she had, she would have been pulled into the same hell that Ginny was now enduring. To ease her guilt, Ginny gave her an almost imperceptible shake of her head. Receiving her signal, a look of undisguised relief washed over Heather.

At her other side, Draco's voice drifted over, "So this is what you termed 'true friendship'?" he smiled condescendingly. "You stood up for her and this is how she repays you. Was it worth it?" Ginny didn't even bother acknowledging the loaded question. She walked away without a backward glance and headed towards the back of the school building which she figured was more deserted.

"So hungry and tired," she groaned. "One or two days? My dear Millicent, I don't know whether I can live up to your predictions." In fact, Ginny was so tired that she didn't even realise that she had been tailed. Heather now stood before her, looking extremely glum. Trying to lift her spirits, Ginny smiled up at Heather and said, "I'm really all right. You better keep a distance away from me or you'll be dragged in as well." Heather looked down at her bedraggled friend, tears welling up in her eyes. She hastily thrusted a small object into Ginny's palm before turning to leave. Ginny looked down at what she now held to find a small bear with a button in the center of its tummy. She pressed it.

"I'm really sorry Ginny," Heather's stricken voice came over. All the emotions she had kept at bay through the day now threatened to overwhelm her. Frustration, anger, loss, resentment, regret all filled her now and she almost felt suffocated. She pressed the button for a second time, then a third, using comfort to wash them all away again. Slowly, she felt better and stood up with new found courage.

"Come and get me then!" Ginny called out. In response, a bucket of water immediately gushed down towards her. Furious, Ginny ran to her rooftop sanctuary. Now looking over at the school grounds, she yelled, "All of you no good jerks! I hope one day you will all end up penniless on the streets and die of hunger, and go to hell into the deal as well! Especially those four morons! May you be dragged to death by horses!" she paused panting for breath.

A voice behind her notified her of another entity's presence. "And then?" Ginny turned around to see Tristan Caldwell. He took a step towards her and Ginny immediately got defensive; taking one backwards.

"If you're going to do something, just let me catch my breath first." She said still panting. He just nonchalantly handed over a handkerchief.

"Clean yourself up a little."

Half suspiciously, Ginny took it and started to try wiping off some of the dirt. "How do you know of this place?" Ginny asked him curiously.

"I think I should be asking you that. After all, we've been at this school for a year before you," he half shrugged.

She opened her mouth to say thanks for the handkerchief only to see the silhouette of Tristan leaving the terrace garden. 'Boy, he sure does move soundlessly,' she thought.

"Hey! What about your handkerchief?" she asked.

"Do whatever you will with it. It's already trash anyway," his cool tones came back.

She sighed. 'And I thought he was different…' her inner voiced mocked. She tiredly made her way back down to where her motorcycle was parked; hoping that along the way, nothing untoward would befall her. Thankfully, nothing did but as she now stood before her bike, she was stupefied by the sight of it. It wasn't a very nice bike to start with but now…pieces were falling off it and there were dents in all sorts of sections. "ARGHH!" she screamed at the injustice of it all. Slowly, she started to push her bike along. It was a good thing that her apartment wasn't very far away from the college grounds or she would literally have collapsed in resignation to her weariness. She had one of her friends at Hogwarts to thank, Luna Lovegood actually, for the apartment she now lived in. Luna had gone away travelling to Europe for a few years with her father in search of some unpronounceable thing. She had asked Ginny if she had any interest is house-watching for her and her father. The rent she had asked for was really minimal in comparison to other apartments it's size or even smaller ones and Ginny was really very lucky in being able to acquire such a place. She smiled a little at the thought of Luna and all her strange quirks 'Wonder what's she doing now.'

Behind her, she heard a car and she moved over to the side of the road. She was surprised when the car pulled over beside her to reveal Draco Malfoy in his convertible. Ginny kept quiet but stared at him with clear defiance.

He merely smirked and said, "I have good news and bad news to tell you. Good news- your endurance has won my respect. Bad news- I will put in extra effort to make you drop out." He then zoomed off into the distance again leaving Ginny behind.

"Your respect means nothing to me," Ginny muttered at the trail of fluttering autumn leaves he had left in his wake.

* * *

A quarter of an hour later, she lay collapsed in the snug folds of her couch. The soft cushions welcomed and embraced her as she lay there for a full half an hour before she had gained enough strength to stumble over to the bathroom to run a bath. She tipped some bath oils into it and further added some flowers, just for well deserved aesthetic pleasure. Sighing with contentment, she submerged herself into the tub, the warm waters lapping against her; doing wonders for her battered body. She only regretfully got out of the blissful heaven when the water started turning cold.

Having gotten all the grime off and a whole load more alert, Ginny turned her attentions to the fire of fury within her that she had been tending for the whole day. The fire was getting almost uncontrollably large and Ginny's fingers itched to do something. A brainwave struck her and she took out a pair of scissors, ink and some red paper. 'Watch out Malfoy. Your tag is about to be challenged.'


End file.
